Typical hose pipes are between 5 to 30 meters in length and can deliver water to a large area of land. Such hose pipes when not in use are often wrapped round a reel, as illustrated in FIG. 1, so as to improve the aesthetic appearance of a garden, remove potential trip hazards, and prevent environmental degradation to the hose typically as a result of exposure to UV radiation. The hose pipe and reel are however bulky, weighing on average between 5 to 10 kg, which may cause difficulties to a user when moving the reel. Furthermore, it is time-consuming for a user to have to unwind and rewind the hose after each use.
A further problem associated with commonly available hosepipes is that they are composed of only a single tube. In order for these hose pipes to be robust enough for regular use they typically have a substantial sidewall, several millimeters thick, made from extruded plastic material. A problem associated with hose pipes comprising thick sidewalls is there tendency to kink as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. A kink is a disruption in the uniformity of the cross-section of the tubular sidewall, which is typically caused by the tube bending back upon itself at an acute angle such that the plastics material forming the sidewall is thinned at the apex of the kink or along a line adjacent to the kink. Such kinks in practice tend to lead to either a partial or complete interruption of the fluid supplied during use until the user manually removes the kink by straightening the hose. However, once the sidewall has been thinned by a kink, the hose will tend to kink again repeatedly at the same point of weakness.
GB 2490276 discloses a hose which automatically expands longitudinally and laterally upon application of fluid pressure. The hose automatically expands longitudinally up to six times its unexpanded or contracted length. Upon release of the fluid pressure within the hose, the hose automatically contracts to a contracted state. The hose includes an inner tube made from an elastic material and an outer tube made from a non-elastic material. The inner tube is positioned concentrically within the outer tube in both a contracted state and an expanded state. The outer tube is secured to the inner tube at a first end of the inner and outer tubes and at a second end of the inner and outer tubes. The outer tube moves laterally and longitudinally with respect to the inner tube when the tubes are transitioning between a contracted state and an expanded state.